On Saturday June 30th, the Saskatchewan Roughriders held a regular-season game designated as the “Humboldt Strong” game in honour of the 16 people who were killed in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash on April 6, 2018.

More than 200 people with ties to the collision, and a capacity crowd of 33,350 were at the Rider’s home game against the Montreal Alouettes. The list of people invited by the Riders included surviving players, their immediate and extended families, billet families, members of the community and first responders.

The Riders wanted to show support for the Broncos and the entire community of Humboldt, and wanted to thank the first responders for their efforts on that night. “Mostly it’s for Rider Nation to wrap their arms around Humboldt and the Broncos.” said Craig Reynolds, the president and CEO of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The Riders paid tribute in many ways, including a pre-game video and ceremony, painting the Humboldt Strong ribbon at the 29 yard lines, and placing a Broncos jersey on the 13th-man statue outside Mosaic Stadium. There was signage throughout the stadium dedicated to Humboldt Strong and fans were given green and white ribbons while entering the stadium.

The pre-game ceremony included Eddie Steele waiving a Humboldt Strong flag while leading the Riders onto the field. The coin for the traditional coin toss was replaced with a Broncos puck. The STARS air ambulance helicopter flew over the stadium just as the anthem was finishing and then a second time, giving the fans another chance to cheer. STARS was one of the first on the scene of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash.

On June 30th, 2018 in conjunction with the Humboldt Strong Tribute Game, the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Rider Store began to sell official Humboldt Strong merchandise. This merchandise was created with the Humboldt Broncos and 100% of the proceeds from purchase of the Humboldt Strong merchandise go directly towards supporting the Humboldt Strong Community Foundation.

On Friday, April 6, 2018, the Humboldt Broncos’ organization was brought to its knees by an unimaginable tragedy. Over the past ten days, an overwhelming wave of financial support has poured in for our club and its families.

First and foremost, the Broncos’ volunteer board of directors would like to express their tremendous love and sincere gratitude to everyone who has generously donated time and money to support our organization and its families, as we navigate through this dark and heart-wrenching time.

The strain on the Broncos’ organization’s limited resources has been immense. Our priority currently remains focused – as it has been since day one – on working with our families, especially now as they lay their loved ones to rest, as well as on all our families and players struggling to heal, physically and mentally, in the wake of this devastating event.

Today, I would like to provide you with an update on how the Broncos’ organization plans to manage and disperse the financial support we have received.

The Humboldt Broncos wish to reiterate their gratitude to Humboldt resident Sylvie Kellington, for her quick thinking in creating such an extraordinary way to help our club and its families, through the use of a GoFundMe online fundraising campaign.

Going forward, the Broncos’ board of directors, in tandem with their legal counsel, MLT Aikins, and executives at GoFundMe.com head office, have determined that the Humboldt Broncos GoFundMe campaign will remain open for two more days to allow for any additional online donations and will then be closed and taken offline on Wednesday, April 18, 2018 at 11:59 pm MST.

The funds donated through the GoFundMe campaign will be transferred to a newly created non-profit corporation known as “Humboldt Broncos Memorial Fund Inc.” to be allocated for their intended purpose. An advisory committee is being established to make a recommendation for the allocation of these funds, which will be held in trust until that allocation occurs. Once we have formalized the composition of this committee, we will provide you with an update.
The Broncos have been humbled, and our spirits buoyed, by the staggering number of individuals and groups wanting to make donations, or holding fundraisers to support our organization, as we deal with this unprecedented crisis.

In order to accommodate these incoming funds, the Humboldt Broncos, together with legal counsel Robertson Stromberg, have launched the HumboldtStrong Community Foundation.

The mission of the HumboldtStrong Community Foundation will be to support Humboldt Broncos’ players, employees, families, and volunteers, as well as first responders and emergency services personnel, teams, athletes, related organizations and communities affected by the crash of the Humboldt Broncos team bus on April 6, 2018, and the aftermath thereof.

Please note that only fundraisers, benefits or initiatives directing proceeds to the HumboldtStrong Community Foundation will be considered as endorsed, sanctioned by or held in conjunction with the Humboldt Broncos organization.

The Broncos cannot, and will not, be able to verify the legitimacy of any other event or the disbursal of funds raised by other such events.